General Question

How can you tell you have part of a contact lens in your eye, and how can you get it out without further irritation?

I am not usually a CL user—obviously. But when I lost my glasses and had to drive I found myself using Ciba Dailies, which are basically weightless and very flimsy. I used them when I had to for 7 days, while I waited for new glasses, and I saw something shiny fall down my cheek and thought I’d dropped the last CL I took out of one eye.

That eye watered (but worked fine with the new scrip) even after I got my new glasses until, 2 1/2 days later, I felt something under that eyelid and rubbed it around until it came out: a torn 1/3 of a contact.

Is there anything anyone can use to tell if you have a contact lens stuck to the back of your eyeball or to the inside of an eyelid? (How do cops tell if you’re wearing them?)

3 Answers

You’d think that would work, wouldn’t you? Well, I did, back when I first lost the glasses. I had found some 3— or 4-year-old contacts soaking in solution, and I cleaned them up and used them to drive around all day before my emergency appointment. I couldn’t stand the one in my left eye and took it out — I thought. After several puzzling tests, the optometrist finally discovered I was still wearing it. All the tests had to be repeated.

You should know if you put a contact in and did not take it out. If you have, you can put eyedrops in, then close your eyes and lay down. The contacts should float to the top of your eye and when you open your eyes after 15 minutes or so, you should be able to see it and pull it out.

That’s what the doctor had me do when my contacts ripped while I was wearing them. It worked.